Animated music box with additional sound reproduction



United States Patent Inventor Peter Van Zanten PO Box W, Wilton, Maine 04294 Appl. No. 740,321 Filed June 26, 1968 Patented Aug. 11, I970 ANIMATED MUSIC BOX WITH ADDITIONAL SOUND REPRODUCTION 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 84/2, 84/95 Int. Cl GlOf 1/22 Field of Search.....

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 594,236 11/1897 Ehrlich 84/2 Starkenberg Nozawa Koch FOREIGN PATENTS 8/1883 Germany 5/1960 ltaly Primary Examiner- Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner- Lawrence R. Franklin Attorney- Abbott Spear .III 84I2, 94-99 I I 1 l I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I l 1 I I I 1 I I I I I I I 1 I 1 I 11-1", '1',

ABSTRACT: Music box in combination with at least one animated figure and an additional sound producing device, the music box being the means providing both the desired movement of the figure and the desired operation of the additional Pat gnted Aug. 11, 1970 3,523,478

Sheet 1 of 3 Patented Aug. 11, 1970 3,523,478

Sheet 3 of 3 4 5-' g 777-7m171777177m171nmmm 777 77 777 77' ANIMATED MUSIC BOX WITH ADDITIONAL SOUND REPRODUCTION The present invention relates to music boxes in combination with animated figures as devices for producing sounds, the figures, sounds and the music being interrelated.

Music boxes of thetype having a spring wound motor turning a rotor provided with radially disposed pins engageable with lugs in a tune reproducing order have long been favored by many people. Their appeal can be enhanced as by combining them in devices with animated figures or figures together with sounds, the sounds and figures being appropriate for the particular time or tunes the music box provides.

The principal objective of the invention is to provide devices having the above referred to combination with the music .box' of each being the means providing the motion wanted of the figure or figures and also the means operating the device producing the appropriate noise.

Another objective of the invention is to provide devices in which the figure or figures are supported on a turntable fast on the winding stem of the music box and they appear and disappear as the turntable rotates. Desirably, means driven by the stem function to protect the motor spring from being wound or unwound to an objectionable extent.

Another objective of the invention is to provide connections between the music boxes and the sound reproducing device so that the latter are driven intermittently by the former. This objective is attained with sound reproducing devices that are weight operated by causing movement of the weight first in one direction and then the other as the rotor shaft of the music turns.

In the accompanying drawings, there are shown embodiments of the invention illustrative of these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a top plan view of a device in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a front view thereof,

FIGURE 3 is a view ofthe device as seen from the rear,

FIGURE 4 is a section taken approximately along the indicated lines 4--4 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 5 is a section taken approximately along the indicated lines 5--5 of FIGURE 3, and

FIGURE 6 is a like view illustrating another embodiment of the invention.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIGURES l 5, the device consists of end walls 10joined together by top and bottom members 11 and 12, respectively, and supporting a tranverse, horizontal member 13. The device is shown as open at the rear and closed at the front by a perforated front 14 between the members 12 and 13 and by a window 15 between the members 13 and 11. An intermediate, transverse vertical member 16 is supported by the members 10, 13, and

tion illustrated by the drawings and the tune played by the music box isthe song of that title. The figures 29 and 30 are shown as diametrically opposed and each passes through the doors l7 and 18 as the turntable 28 rotates.

A noise reproducing device is generally indicated at 31 and is of the type having a weight 32 slidable therein to compress and expand the bellows 33 with the escaping air resulting in a desired sound reproduction, in the present case, the bleating of a lamb. The device 31 is shown as held within a frame 34 fast on the shaft 23 so that it is turned with its weight 32 moving by gravity first in one direction and then in the other to effect the desired intermittent operation of the device 31. The member 13 has an opening 35 to accommodate the device 31 as it turns'.

As the devices in accordance with the invention are commonly used by children, it is necessary to protect the motor 21 from being overwound or turned too far in an unwinding direction. For that reason and as may best be seen in FIGURE 5, a rack 36 underlies the turntable 28 and is connected to the member 13 by means of vertically disposed keepers 37 extending through rack slots 38. A pinion 39 on the winding stem 26 meshes with the rack 36 so that the rack 36 is moved whenever the stem 26 turns in either direction to a predetermined extent before functioning as a stop.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIGURE 6, parts identical to those of the embodiment just described are identified by the suffix addition A to the appropriate reference numerals.

In this embodiment, the protection against overwinding or unwinding is shown as a gear segment 40 connected to the member 13A by a pivot 41 and provided with stops 42 engageable with the winding stem 26A.

The sound reproducing device 31A is mounted on the device so that its weight 32A moves vertically. The shaft'23A is provided with an over-running clutch, generally indicated at 43 and shown as of the jaw type. The over-running part 44 has a cord 45 attached eccentrically thereto and extending rearwardly around guides 46 and 47 arranged and disposed so that the weight 32A yieldably urges the clutch part 44 into 16. The member 16 represents the background of a scene shown as including a school having doors l7 and 18 while the member 13 has a surface layer 19 representing the foreground of the scene.

Secured to the undersurface of the member 13 is a music box generally indicated at 20 and of the type having a spring wound motor 21, a rotor 22 mounted on a motor driven shaft 23. The rotor 22 has a series of radially projecting pins 24 which engage with a series of keys 25 in a tune-producing order. The music box has a winding stem 26 extending vertically through the members 11 and 13 in back of the member 16 and between the doors 17 and 18. The upper end of the winding stem 26 is provided with a knob 27.

The. stem 26 carries a turntable 28 underlying the central part of the member 16 and carrying figures 29 and 30, the figure 29 being shown as a lamb and the figure 30 as a girl, she ofMary Had a Little Lamb in the embodiment of the invenengagement with the clutch part 48. As the shaft 23A turns, the weight 32A is alternately raised and released to effect the desired intermittent operation of the device 31A.

1 claim:

1. In an animated device, a support, at least one figure attached to said support and representing a living creature, motion transmitting means connected to said support and operable to actuate it to provide a pathway for said figure, said motion transmitting means being in the form of a music box and includes a drive shaft, a sound reproducing mechanism including a casing, a bellows with said casing and operable to reproduce said sound as it is compressed, and a weight slidable within said casing and operable to effect compression and expansion of the bellows as it slides first in one direction and then the other within the casing, and a connection between said mechanism and said motor transmitting means operable to effect such sliding of the weight.

2. The device of Claim 1 in which the connection is between the shaft of the motion transmitting means and the casing of the sound reproducing mechanism with the shaft axis at right angles to the path of the weight.

3. The device of Claim 1 in which the casing of the sound v reproducing mechanism is fixed and vertical, the shaft of the motion transmitting means includes a jaw type, over-running clutch, a flexible member eccentrically connected to the overrunning part of the clutch is connected to the weight and is operative to raise the weight until the clutch overruns, and the fixed position of the casing is such that the flexible member yieldably urges the over-running part of the clutch towards its engaged position. 

